In the emergence of social media, life has begun to become noticeably more prettier and glamorous. At least, it seems to be. Through Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and other social media platforms, people share pictures of their life, whether it’s beautiful sunsets, architecturally pleasing cities or buildings, or “candids” of friends and family. These photos have come to be under the category of “aesthetic photos” or “aesthetically pleasing”.
Although convincing, most of these photos are not real life. They are sometimes staged to be “candids” or precisely planned out.
And while this all does sound quite downcast, it’s true that life for many people have changed because of the aesthetics. So many people strive to center their lives around making their lives aesthetically pleasing, which can include dressing in certain outfits, changing rooms to be picture perfect, and focusing on aesthetic photography. It’s easy to see a person’s way of life is changed when their every move is documented with a photo for a social media platform, as it’s almost an addiction.
The definition of aesthetic is to be “concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty.” Although this is the definition, aesthetic to many people doesn’t include the appreciation of beauty.
Though beautiful photos are enjoyable and going to pretty places is very fun, centering one’s life around being beautiful in every aspect can be very draining and it almost takes the real beauty of life when someone’s face is hidden behind a phone’s camera.
I have witnessed many people focus on beauty through a camera, but never see real life’s romance. Once they have their photos, they don’t care about any other experience but the process of photography. But real life has its own natural beauty, perhaps not picture perfect, but beautiful nonetheless.
Although I, and many others, are guilty of being convinced by social media’s aesthetics, I believe real life is better experienced without the “comfort” of a camera and experiencing life without its “aesthetics”.